Biomedical subjects

M Grimson

Publications and source records attributed to M Grimson.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Erwinia chrysanthemi strains cause death of human gastrointestinal cells in culture and express an intimin-like protein.

The bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi is a model plant pathogen, responsible for causing cell death in plant tissue. Cell-wall depolymerizing enzymes and avirulence proteins essential for parasitism by this bacterium utilize dedicated type II and type III secretion systems, respectively. Although E. chrysanthemi is not recognized as a mammalian pathogen, we have observed that the bacterium can adhere to, cause an oxidative stress response in and kill cultured human adenocarcinoma cells. These bacteria express a surface protein that bears immunological identity to intimin, a protein required for full virulence of enterohemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. A type III secretion mutant of E. chrysanthemi was observed to have a significantly lower capability of causing death than the wild-type strain in parallel cultures of human colon adenocarcinoma cells. These observations suggest that E. chrysanthemi has the potential to parasitize mammalian hosts as well as plants.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

PubMed1996

How cellular slime molds evade nematodes.

We have found a predator-prey association between the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and the free soil living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans feeds on the amoebae and multiplies indefinitely when amoebae are the sole food source. In an environment created from soil, D. discoideum grows and develops, but not in the presence of C. elegans. During development, C. elegans feeds on amoebae until they aggregate and synthesize an extracellular matrix called the slime sheath. After the sheath forms, the aggregate and slug are protected. Adult nematodes ingest Dictyostelium spores, which pass through the gut of the worm without loss of structure and remain viable. Nematodes kill the amoebae but disperse the spores. The sheath that is constructed when the social amoebae aggregate and the spore coats of the individual cells may protect against this predator. Individual amoebae may also protect themselves by secreting compounds that repel nematodes.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Disruption of the gene encoding the EcmA, extracellular matrix protein of Dictyostelium alters slug morphology.

The ecmA and ecmB genes of Dictyostelium are expressed in prestalk and stalk cells. They encode components of the slime sheath, the extracellular matrix that surrounds the migrating slug, and the stalk tube, the matrix that encases stalk cells. We have generated, by homologous gene disruption, a mutant in which the ecmB gene is inactivated but the strain develops normally. In contrast, ecmA null mutant strains develop to form abnormally long and thin standing slugs. While the slime sheath of mutant slugs appears to be normal in electron microscopic observations, the sheath material remaining on the substratum after the slug travels through it is abnormally susceptible to breakage. After a short period of migration the axial ratio of mutant slugs decreases to that of normal slugs and, at culmination, normal fruiting bodies are produced. These data suggest that the EcmA protein has its primary role during slug formation, where it contributes to the strength of the slime sheath, and that the function of the EcmB protein is dispensible.

Animals↗